Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

14th Annual Undergraduate Student Symposium, Farquhar Honors College

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Undergraduate Student Symposium, sponsored by the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, presents student projects through presentations, papers, and poster displays. The event serves as a “showcase” demonstrating the outstanding scholarship of undergraduate students at NSU. The symposium is open to undergraduate students from all disciplines. Projects cover areas of student scholarship ranging from the experimental and the applied to the computational, theoretical, artistic, and literary. They are taken from class assignments and independent projects. The projects do not have to be complete; presentations can represent any stage in the concept’s evolution, from proposal and literature review to fully …

Comparison Of Downstream Cell Survival Responses In Huvecs And Hlecs During Vegf Signaling, Haley Smith

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Comparison of Downstream Cell Survival Responses in HUVECs and HLECs During VEGF Signaling

Author: Haley M. Smith

Mentor: Thomas L. Vandergon

Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are vital processes that allow the formation of new blood and lymph vessels from existing blood or lymph vessels. Formation of these vessels is essential to bring oxygen and nutrients to the body as well as maintaining tissue fluid balance. New blood or lymph vessel growth occurs in response to Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) signaling to vascular endothelial cells. The VEGF signal molecules bind to cell surface receptors and elicit a variety of responses including …

Lifeguard Fitness Readiness: Certification Vs. Qualification, Jacob Rasmussen

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Among lifeguard certifying bodies, there is a lack of minimum cardio and strength requirements. Once certified, it is assumed that a lifeguard is physically able to perform rescues. This study will review in-service logs for cardio and strength components within lifeguard training to design appropriate in-service fitness readiness guidelines.

Flow-Induced Dilation Of Skeletal Muscle Feed Arteries: Relevance To Exercise Hyperemia, Brittni N. Moore, Jeffrey J. Jasperse Dr.

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

During exercise, an increase in blood flow to working skeletal muscle is necessary in order to sustain activity for longer than a few seconds. This is accomplished by the dilation of arteries and arterioles feeding the muscle. Arterioles, located within contracting muscle, are exposed to dilatory metabolites released by the muscle; however, the mechanism by which feed arteries dilate is still unknown, since they are located external to the muscle. The purpose of this study was to determine if flow-induced dilation (resulting from shear stress on endothelial cells) contributes to exercise hyperemia in rat extensor digitorum longus and gastrocnemius muscle …

My Journey From Farquhar College Of Arts And Science To Becoming A Medical Doctor, Raquel Appa Falcao

Pre-Health Day

The privilege of becoming an internist was a long journey with many hardships and gratifying moments. I am currently a physician at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. I remember my first day at Farquhar College of Arts, studying to obtain a Biology degree with the ultimate goal of attending medical school. My presentation will highlight the journey from Farquhar to practicing medicine. I will share the challenges, gratifying stories, and secrets I learned to succeed in this journey. My goal is to help students have a greater understanding of the path to becoming a physician.

Being A Medical Scribe From The Perspective Of An Undergraduate Student, Monica Perez

Pre-Health Day

Getting into graduate school can be a very tough and exciting experience all at the same time. Part of this long and challenging process is gaining a great education and also the valuable clinical hours that will help to become a more competitive applicant. I am currently an undergraduate student with a major in biology at Barry University planning on going to PA school. I was given the opportunity to become a Medical Scribe with PhysAssist Scribes about 2 years ago and this is what has helped me become more confident about my journey to graduate school. This break out …

My Path From Farquhar College Of Arts And Science To The Field Of Medicine, Crystal Romero

Pre-Health Day

As an undergraduate student in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences I was confident that I wanted to be a physician; however, I was also intrigued by the field of Public Health. Consequently, I pursued a Master’s degree concentrating in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Personally, I saw the attainment of this degree as a means of developing a skill set for future practice as a physician. Public health concentrates on community health needs, while medicine focuses more on the needs of an individual patient. During this time I worked on a project at the Broward County Health Department that allowed …

The Path I Took From The Farquhar College Of Arts And Sciences To The Field Of Medicine, David Cevallos

Pre-Health Day

The path to Medicine is a long journey with many twist and turns. It is a route that would test you physically, mentally, and socially, but knowing how to balance your life will help you reach your goals. I was a former student of Nova Southeastern University already knowing what I needed to do to reach my goals. I was studying in the field of Biology to prepare myself to apply to Medical School. In addition, I attended various organizations like the Pre-Medical Society, while also volunteering at an Emergency Department. I then took the MCAT and applied to various …

My Journey To Become Assistant Program Director Of A Pediatric Residency Program, Meisha Graham

Pre-Health Day

I took the conventional path and chose to attend medical school immediately after receiving my undergraduate degree. I obtained a Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Health Systems Management concurrent to my medical degree to gain a better understanding of hospital administration and to foster my leadership skills. I completed a pediatric residency at University of Tennessee-Memphis, where I served one year as chief resident. Upon completion of training, I immediately entered academic medicine and am currently the Assistant Program Director of the Pediatric Residency Program at Morehouse School of Medicine. In addition to seeing patients, I also …

A Physician’S Growth Chart: From Undergraduate Studies Through Completing Residency/Fellowship And Beyond, Maria Behnam-Terneus

Pre-Health Day

The personal and professional journey from undergraduate studies through medical school, residency, fellowship, and attending physician is a considerable endeavor. I am currently a pediatric Hospitalist and a pediatric residency Associate Program Director at Miami Children’s Hospital and continue to help mentor residents, medical students, and undergraduates to pursue their dream of becoming a doctor. The road to becoming a practicing physician is long and requires unwavering personal dedication to succeed through many mental, physical, and emotional challenges. Through these experiences you will grow as an individual into a well-rounded clinician. My goal is to tell you my story and …

My Non-Traditional Path To Becoming A Dentist, Michelle Luis

Pre-Health Day

I graduated from NSU Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences in 2005. My initial interest in the medical field began with Veterinary medicine. As an undergraduate student at NSU I was planning on going to medical school. It was not until I spent a summer studying in Spain, that I started to think of other career options like Dental medicine. My path to becoming a Dentist was not a straight-line path. I took time off to travel, I applied multiple times, and I got a Masters in Biomedical sciences, and completed my doctorate degree in May of 2014. I am …

What Every Coach Should Know Before Graduation, Michael Christiansen

Pre-Health Day

Becoming a successful Strength and Conditioning Coach is a rewarding career in which you will improve the physical and mental strength of your clients. The path it takes to become a successful coach requires dedication, hard work, and sacrifice. My Professor’s at Farquhar helped me become the professional I am today by challenging me to work hard. There are many facets of building a successful Strength and Conditioning facility and I will share what I have learned from my success and failures. I will also pre sent a road map to improve success as a coach.

The Path I Took From Farquhar College Of Arts And Science To The Field Of S.T.E.M. Coaching, Aimee Rivera-Azua

Pre-Health Day

After graduating from NSU with a Bachelors in Biology, I began my first Master’s Degree in 2007 with an online institution as a simultaneously taught Science courses at the high school level within Broward County Public Schools. I never thought I would end up teaching, but I was capable of getting accredited in the State of Florida due to my background and the “Alternative Teacher’s Certification Program”. I began teaching more like a hobby than anything else, and in that a passion flourished. I loved developing curriculum and exposing students to the plethora of opportunities that existed within STEM fields. …

Journey To Becoming A Surgeon, Jill Gorsuch

Pre-Health Day

I began my path to become General and Bariatric Surgeon at the University of Florida earning my B.S. in Microbiology and Cell Science. I then spent a year at the University of Miami, Diabetes Research Institute studying islet cell transplantation. In 2005, I began medical school at NSU, College of Osteopathic Medicine where I earned both my D.O. and M.P.H. I then completed my general surgery residency at Michigan State’s Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills, Michigan. While in residency I decided I wanted to advance my general surgery skills and pursue a career in Bariatric surgery. I am currently completing …

From Undergrad To Audiologist, The Road Less Traveled, Ashley Richie

Pre-Health Day

College is a challenging yet rewarding time in life and if you stay motivated and keep your eyes on your long-term goals, you will be successful regardless of your career choice. I learned about who I was as a person throughout my college years, and I can offer some guidance on both the good choices and mistakes I made on my path to becoming a medical professional. I began undergrad at NSU in 2002, long before the days of the University Center and when the NSU mascot was still a Knight. I majored in Biology and graduated in 2006 with …

Freshman At Farquhar To Pharmacy Fellow: The Reality Of The Journey And Tips For Success, Nicholas Carris

Pre-Health Day

The path to becoming a healthcare provider is a commitment to lifelong learning, constant hard work, and a career that is not about you. Every class you take, everything you learn, every experience you engage in is preparing you to be a competent and compassionate healthcare provider, so that one day you can walk into the room of a desperate human being and help them. The pay is average at best especially considering the years of training. People will be angry at you when you are doing your best to help them. People will be angry when you do not …

From Nsu-Fcas To Nsu-Com: A Dual Admission Student’S Journey, Hannah Bromberg

Pre-Health Day

As I reflect upon my time at NSU, I feel privileged to share my own story and advice. Eight years ago, I embarked upon the journey to become an osteopathic physician. Aspiring to become a doctor since I was a child, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into NSU’s dual admission program and graduated from FCAS in 2011. While interviewing for medical school, I would often be asked to expound upon my research and extracurricular activities. This often took me by surprise because I naturally assumed that the interview would be strictly academics when in fact, it was quite …

The Path I Took From Farquhar College Of Arts And Science To The Field Of Pharmacy And Business, Matthew S. Hartwig

Pre-Health Day

The road to becoming a pharmacist has been a rewarding experience. The challenges that I have encountered along the way have made me a better person and a better healthcare professional. I am about to finish my last clinical rotation and will graduate with both my Doctorate of Pharmacy and Masters of Business Administration in May 2015. It seems like yesterday that I was in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing a degree in biology. This presentation will highlight some insights and stories I had on the path to becoming a pharmacist and dual enrolling in the H. …

My Path To Pharmacy, Chilla Wiersema

Pre-Health Day

Do you like action? Do you enjoy problem-solving? Would it intrigue you to be a part of a field where you will be learning throughout your entire life? I’m an emergency room pharmacist and I love my job. I always knew that I wanted to be a pharmacist. I made my decision freshman year of high school when I did community service in the pharmacy at the local hospital. After graduating high school in 2001, I nurtured my interest by working as a pharmacy tech for years while i was an undergrad. Life after high school... is always full of …

My Journey From Farquhar College Of Arts And Science To The Field Of Dentistry, Andrew Kelso

Pre-Health Day

Pursuing advanced education leading to a professional degree of any kind is a long and challenging endeavor, yielding great reward and fulfillment. As a dentist and current orthodontic resident, I have experienced this firsthand. Before any of that was possible, however, I needed an educational foundation that I could utilize and build upon at the next level. I am a proud alumnus of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, where I received my undergraduate degree in biology. It was here that I was given the opportunity and provided with the essential tools to succeed at the next level. This …

P-23 Variations In Microbiota Of Culex (Melanoconion) Ocossa And Culex (Culex) Declaratoracross Periurban And Rural Environments, M. Nelson Starkey

Honors Scholars & Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium Programs

Mosquitoes serve as the primary mode of transmission for many tropical infections such as Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, dengue virus, and malaria. Therefore, mosquitoes are an important area of study for disease control. This study examined the differences in gut microbiota of Culex melanoconion species across two different habitats: periurban and rural. Mosquitoes were collected from locations around Iquitos, Peru and their gut bacterial DNA was extracted and analyzed. Based on previous studies it is believed that the bacterial flora will differ among mosquitoes reared in different locations.

The Youth Health Summit, North Carolina: A University-Community Partnership To Promote Health Among Rural Youth, Janie Canty-Mitchell Ph.D., R.N., Musarrat Nahid M.Sc.

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Learn how to build partnership with educators, researchers, and practitioners in order to develop educational programs, such as, the Youth Health Summit- a university initiated program undertaken in collaboration with schools and healthcare organizations to promote mental and physical health and create awareness about HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and other hazards among rural middle school students in North Carolina.

Unsilencing The Voice Within: Expressive Writing As A Therapeutic Tool, Karla L. Sapp

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Written words are a very powerful tool that is used to facilitate self-healing, awareness, and growth through the communication of one’s deepest thoughts, emotions, and desires. The purpose of this poster session is to provide mental health providers (community, school, criminal justice) with an overview of expressive writing, forms of expressive writing that can be utilized, and implications for professional practice with At-Risk Youth.

Providing The Teen Outreach Program In School Settings, Phillippia Faust, Tina Thomas, Greg Johnson

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

MTCI will share the experiences of providing the Teen Outreach Program (TOP). The challenges of providing a year long program within school systems where most students change classes each semester will be addressed, along with effective strategies. The presenters will offer instruction regarding successful program activities for the youth service professional working with high school populations.

Choices: A Family-Based Childhood Obesity Intervention For Low Income Minority Children, Cynthia Williams Brown, Claudia Warren, Marian Booker

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The objective of this presentation is to discuss the effectiveness of a 6-week summer childhood obesity intervention for low-income minority children ages 10-12. Topics will include strategies and best practices for effective summer programming for youth. The target audience includes practitioners, educators, and researchers interested in childhood obesity interventions involving families and communities.

Reaching Vs. Teaching: How To Connect With Youth In A Way That Changes Behavior, Jackie Brewton

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Jackie Brewton’s “Reaching vs. Teaching” workshop will equip attendees with tried and true techniques that have helped her to empower thousands of girls, as well as guys, to choose to delay sexual activity as the “best choice” option for their future. Attendees will learn effective approaches to connect with youth for long-term behavioral change Including: the importance of knowing their world and using culturally relevant examples; teaching students towards something not away from something; and how to help students think, not tell them how to think.

Session A-4: “Ain’T No Thing, Chicken Wing”, Carmela Minaya, Aziza Darwish, Heather Richardson

Professional Learning Day

Participating teachers will simulate a deep cut on a chicken wing and suture it using similar techniques used in emergency situations. The chicken wing anatomy will be compared to the anatomy of a human arm. The session will provide teachers with the opportunity to introduce a low cost dissection activity into the classroom in a dynamic fashion.

Postcolonial Disability In Mohesen Makhmalbaf’S Kandahar, Sukshma Vedere

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies (2015-2021)

Kandahar (2001), an Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, details the journey of the protagonist, Nafas, to Kandahar to save her sister from committing suicide on the day of the solar eclipse. The film has gained recent attention by disability studies scholars for the representation of disability in Afghanistan; scholars have discussed the significance of prosthetics and international aid for the disabled in post-war zones of the Third World, but little has been said about disability as a postcolonial embodiment. I argue that Kandahar represents the postcolonial state as a disabled space both literally and metaphorically. It projects the veil …

A Meta-Analysis Of Crew Resource Management/Incident Command Systems Implementation Studies In The Fire And Emergency Services, John C. Griffith, Donna L. Roberts, Ronald T. Wakeham

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The presentation will summarize a meta-analysis of studies on Crew Resource Management/Incident Command System implementation in the fire and emergency services. The need for using participative leadership tools such as CRM evolved from an NTSB recommendation that followed United Airlines Flight 173 crash in 1978. NASA, civilian and military aviation communities implemented Crew Resource Management (CRM) training to improve decisionmaking during flight operations. Maintenance Resource Management (MRM) was a variant of CRM and first appeared in a Federal Aviation Administration circular in 2000. CRM was adopted by the medical community in the 1990s, specifically in the surgical and nursing areas, …

2015 Oklahoma Research Day Full Program, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

This document contains all abstracts from the 2015 Oklahoma Research Day held at Northeastern State University.